


Untitled

by scherzio



Category: No Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 16:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29174145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scherzio/pseuds/scherzio
Summary: She surely had seen him asleep a hundred times, but none of those times turned her so frantic like tonight.Frantic enough to utter that brief insanity into reverberating words."... falling for you, please catch me unscathed."





	Untitled

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! It certainly took me months, precisely nine months, to finally keep my promise that I made last year. I had a hard time choosing what to write. Believe me, I've written a couple prologues but none of them worked out in the end. Perhaps because I merely want to give you the best (though I can't).
> 
> This writing is solely made for you. I leave it untitled because some things are better that way, including this one. It is far from flawless and it might disappoint you for it doesn't suit your taste, but here it is: a oneshot story with your name in it.
> 
> (9 months) belated happy 26th birthday to Michael's Sehun. :b 
> 
> All with love,  
> K.

As expected by the man, crowded was the thoroughfare. It was holiday season after all. Despite the weather forecast that had a premonition of a blizzard, people still rushed to the airport, and so did Michael. Luggage wheels rolling on the tiled floor, hands were all sweaty dreading the worst scenario that could happen tonight. Michael would've bumped into some children running across the hallway had he not paid slight heed to the trail he was piercing so hurriedly. 

His only hope remained on endless prayer that his flight wouldn't be put off, otherwise he would miss his last chance to see her. Yet as if the entire universe held grudge against him, his one and only prayer that night was torn apart when he was given the news that his flight, which was supposed to take off at 11 PM, would be put off until tomorrow morning. It seemed like the blizzard was occuring sooner than predicted, hence none of the flights that night would go as planned. 

Some people went to seek for a settee around, some people even decided to return to wherever they were from. Michael himself was too anxious to figure out what action he should take after the news. Should he go back home? Quite not what he had in mind. Look for a seat? In no time, his stride moved towards a space where an empty seat was available for him to occupy. His hands were trembling, freezing, but his palms were sweatingㅡas always. He left his gloves at home, too frenzy to even care about his own self. 

Michael didn't even reckon to waste any time as soon as he heard that it was true how Grace had been admitted to a hospital for months. All this time thinking that she was relishing her youth in the city of L, he was such a fool for believing in her ruse. He must've noticed since a long time ago that there was something peculiar in her behaviours. The way she kept avoiding him when they both were still in B, how she had a sudden change of mien that night at the festival, or even how she disappeared from the world for months, which he thought to be her sign that she was too busy to be reached out. 

"Fuck," he hissed. It would've not been this intricate if he were a little smarterㅡ a little meticulous in comprehending the situation. 

They barely talked for months until he discovered her situation after overhearing their old schoolmates' conversation at one event back in B. He was wroth, to be sure. He had a hard time denying what he heard, even a much harder time to accept the situation. Epilepsy it was. The news itself was more than enough for him to cross his boundaries by being the first one to reach her out after months and months being so silent and passive towards each other over an absurd reason. He was terrified to lose her, yet when he finally gathered the audacity to speak of the truth to her, she easily turned him down. That scratched bruises on him for sure, which eventually ended up as months of silence between the two of them. 

And here he was still regretting his choice to choose his pride over the chance of reconciling sooner. Now that her surgery was scheduled to take place in tomorrow noon, he was assured that he could only hope the flight wouldn't be delayed for too long or that he could arrive in the nick of time. He was considering if he should apprise Grace about his situation, but he presumed that it'd only make her worry about things that were not supposed to be her concern in the meantime. 

A short message would be okay, he guessed. 

My flight is being put off. See you tomorrow noon? 

Tomorrow noon. Great. He'd see her again. When that time comes, Michael thought, he'd see her again and never let go. An abhorrent thought crossed his mind all of a sudden. What if she didn't make it? That was out of question. There was no way that Grace wouldn't survive her brain surgery. Brain surgery, he kept reminding himself. If she didn't make it.. 

The next thing he knew was his fingers rushing to look for his phone he stored in his leather coat pocket. Grace, Grace, Grace. Feet unconsciously tapping the floor repeatedly, his knee started to tremble severely as a sign of his being torn apart between frightened and nervous. His hands were sloppy and his fingers ice cold that he could barely touch the letters appearing on his screen. 

"Fuck fuck fuck. Come on, at least cooperate with me this time." 

His mind was busy repelling eldritch thoughts about Grace, whilst his thoughts were all scattered, even arrived at one distant memory how she once scolded him for cursing too much. Michael was far from ready to let her go and he'd make sure she wouldn't go anywhere. 

That was when the delicate voice over the phone spoke to him in such a fragile tone, calling out his name in the way he mustn't have noticed that he had terribly missed. 

"Michael? I got your text. It's okay.. we'll meet tomorrow noon. Or is there anything else you want to say?" Grace inquired with a soft chuckle sounding so dulcet at the end of her sentence. 

Silence was all that was manifested to fill in the space between the lines. It took him a long time to finally marshall all audacity he got to finally utter these words, which was strange, recalling the fact that they spent almost their entire lives together as foster siblings. 

"I missed you, I guess," Michael said in a hurry, "Is that okay too?" 

He could hear the lass crack her laughter in a mischiveous manner from somewhere across the space. He was worried if he had said something improper. He immediately regretted his choice of words that uttered too frankly what he currently had in mind. 

"That's... also okay. I missed you, too. A lot more than allowed." 

Michael indubitably picked a wrong time to have this strange feeling linger inside him, but he was happy. He was happy just to hear her speak to him tenderly. He was happy that she was present, even though somewhere far away from him. He regretted all the time he wasted by being reticent and timid, let alone missing her signals that she didn't actually mean to turn him down that night. 

"Did I just butt in? Are you with your English boyfriend now?" Michael lifted the corner of his lips. He was teasing her, obviously. Michael knew all along that the only picture of a man Grace had on her social media was him. It was palpable enough for him to realise that the figure was none other than himself. 

"Ugh, stop it, will you? If you're going to bring that up again, I'm hanging up your call, Michael!" 

Now was his turn to burst out laughing. He didn't realise how much he missed this. Teasing her, making fun of her until she cried, even. All this light conversation they were having somehow made him yearn for her even worse. And also end up feeling... sore. 

"You'll be fine, right? We'll meet tomorrow noon, won't we?" Michael blurted out suddenly. There was no reply for some time which almost made him feel uneasy. But there was an affirmation soundㅡ almost unheard, but he could tell that she was nodding. 

"Michael, that night at the festival..." 

"Nevermind that." 

"No, no! I have to tell you this," Grace paused for a moment and he could hear her cough, then mayhap she gulped water, he guessed.  
"I... was really surprised, to be honest. I couldn't sort out my thoughts well, so I just spoke whatever I had in mind, which eventually formed a rejection. That night, I thought about your parents, how they were so kind, so angelic to me all this time. The whole life I've had until now wouldn't happen if it weren't for them, hence my rejection. I couldn't bear any more debt to them," she inhaled a deep breath before continuing her elaboration of string of thoughts. 

"Grumpy, your parents have given me more than I could ever ask for, how dare I ask more of them, let alone their one and only son? I can't even pay them back for every kindness they've done to me, I definitely cannot and don't want to steal a bright future from their child, too.  
"Considering my current situation, Michael, I don't want to give you any false hope. My surgery might succeed and they might actually lift the epilepsy, but I cannot guarantee that there won't be a side effect or even worse, another disorder rendered by my condition. Michael, my dearest, you deserve the whole world.. even the one I cannot give to you." 

Michael was left bereft of speech. For whatever reason he set off to the airport, it couldn't be for this surprising confession. He hadn't expected any of this in advance. He didn't even thought that far, that Grace turned him down because she felt indebted to his parents. Temporary resentment for he had crossed the line was his only guess, he definitely had no idea about this candor. 

"How... exactly do you feel about me, then?" Michael asked abruptly and clearly foolishly. 

The clock was ticking, somewhat felt slightly slower than ever. Each second that passed by excruciated him to the bone. No answer coming from the phone. Illation reached was Michael just said the wrong line for once more. 

"I'm truly a loser when it comes to love-related stuff, I'm certain that you're aware of that. All I know is... I don't want you to get hurt." 

Michael couldn't comprehend his state of mind right now. Perhaps it was relief that he felt that moment... or was it a sinister hunch that he had when he heard her words? Albeit he'd like to believe it was the initial, and so he grinned; all ready to convey another botherment to rip apart the sombre cloud in the atmosphere. 

"I didn't expect that you'd turn me down, though. Recalling what you clearly confessed to me that night before the school's music festival, if you remember. Worry not, I will catch you unscathed," Michael chuckles. 

There was a low gasp slightly heard from the phone. "I never... were you not asleep?!" she emphasized every word from her query. Tone and pitch rose to mark how surprised she was to discover another truth that had been enshrouded from the surface all this time. 

Certainly Grace remembered that night. The music room... the moonlight that shone through the glass windows while she was practicing her performance for the school's music festival... and that man, Michael, accompanying her all night long. But he was asleep! She made sure of that herself. Unless he was pretending to be asleep... 

"You despicable liar, what a nuisance!" Grace exerted all she had to shout at Michael despite her fragile state of being. Well, this much fragility was far from adequate to refrain her from getting upset at Michael after all. She was beyond mortified, yet all she could hear was his laughter as if it were triumphant, a constant manical chain of reverberating sound. 

"It's past midnight. Aren't you going to sleep? You have to wake up early and win a battle tomorrow," Michael said after finishing rounds of laughter solely to annoy Grace. 

"I was going to say that, but you said that first. Later, then. I'll call you in the morning. Good night?" 

"A morning call would be wonderful, thank you. Good night, Shorty." 

Michael deliberately waited for the girl to hang up the call. No action taken for approximately two minutes. Precisely when he thought she had fallen asleep before hanging up, there came her last speech uttered from the phone speaker. Michael was one moment away from letting himself doze off, exhausted from his everyday activity before rushing to the airport, and the faint voice in which she spoke almost turned out as an indistinct hum if it weren't for Michael's last-moment heed. He definitely heard her last words before the call ended and he surely figured it out correctly. 

You're so cruel for making me wish to live. 

There she said those words. Perhaps having no idea how they'd haunt Michael every night. 

Later in the dawn, Michael woke up after having a sequence of eerie nightmares. He had always had trouble sleeping, but it was strangely peculiar how he could lose consciousness in the matter of seconds last night. To unveil every lie, he must be honest that he waited for her call. She promised him one call in the morning, didn't she? But no call did he receive until his flight was reaffirmed. Only a short text informing that she was already preparing for surgery, hence she apologised that she couldn't ring a call as she promised to. A severe disappointment piled up in his stomach. 

The flight only took three hours long. Such a pity whenever he got reminded that he could've arrived here and accompanied Grace all night had the blizzard not occured. Much gratitude for Grace's choice of hospital, fortunately it wasn't too distant from the airport itself. Only in minutes he finally reached the doorsteps. The scent of hospital filled the aerial, the bunks, the doctors and nurses passing and never slowing down. Each second that passed was the time of somebody's death out there, Michael reminded himself. He never stopped praying that today could never be the time she would leave. Not today, it simply could not be today. He still had a lot of things to say to her. Tons, even. He hadn't got the opportunity to say how much he cherished her nor how much she meant the world to him. 

There was a loud scream when he walked down the alley. A stranger, indeed, but it sounded so painful that it rendered him a good amount of uneasiness. But the ambience there was rich of alterations. It didn't even take him a minute before he heard another cryㅡa mourning one for sureㅡ was replaced by giggles of children's, repeatedly saying how they could visit the famous clock tower later in the day. 

Ah... that was right. He was too immersed in his fear of losing Grace that he forgot that he was finally here in L. 

He still remembered how Grace used to bloviate about her flat here in L. A lovely sight, she said, with a nice vantage to perceive that widely famous river and its riverbank. An indelible view of the most classic city in the world. He should've visited the place earlier. Scenarios of days that never happened suddenly came flooding his mind; of how they walked side by side crossing the bridge at night because God knows how much Grace loved night strolls; of how they spent all day taking a tour circling the city, perhaps even paid a visit to the famous 221B Baker Street; or simply staying at Grace's flat, watching cool Japanese animation series because strangely enough, they loved them. 

In silence Michael was soothing himself. He had always been so busy, never dared neglect his work, but he was more than willing to promise that he'd make time for Grace this time. He had disappointed her a lot of times, he was certain of it, but he promised he would make it right; he would make up every mistake he had ever made. Michael would be elated to wait in patience for her recovery, then they could be together again. Spending every day in mirthful zeal just like how they used to back in those happier days. Just thinking of the possibility gave him an imminent burst of joy inside. 

And thus, his fragment of temporary happiness in no time turned into agony. He himself was in anguish, sobbing until his lungs ran out of air, reaching for a pause amidst his endeavour to control his emotions before he brushed off the desire to throw a punch to the man in white who just told him the most abhorrent lie he had ever heard. 

"She was very eager to survive, yet the surgery, I'm afraid, was difficult to operate to begin with, hence-" 

"She promised that we'd meet this noon. How would you explain that?" Michael inquired with the last piece of perseverance he had in his speech. 

"Sir, we are very deeply sorry for your loss," that man said before leaving him all alone. 

The LED light was turned off and a few people came out from the room which he had been sitting outside of it for hours. It almost felt surreal. Was it another nightmare? Had he not woken up from his sleep at the airport? 

Most of the times, the airport had seen more sincere kisses than the marriage halls and the blank white hospital walls had heard more earnest prayers than the churches itself. Yet, all that Michael knew was he got turned down for one more time. This time, Grace wasn't the one who did it, but God Himself. His endless prayers all day and all night, all were turned down. 

His Grace was gone. 

ㅡㅡㅡ

July 16th 2016. 

The slim fingers that once tapped the black and white keys of piano lightly started to dance in a more ardent zeal. The pinnacle of this piece was within her reach, Grace thought to herself. It was only a matter of seconds... and... that was it! She finished perfectly. Another flawless practice of the brightest young musician in modern epoch, Lady Grace! She was all bright and cheerful inside while exclaiming how wonderful tomorrow's performance would be. 

"Michael, Michael! Another perfection! Hey, did you listen to my playing at all? Jesus Christ, why are you sleeping? Wait a moment, were you sleeping all along? All this time?!" Grace marched across the dim room with flames of emotions raging inside. She knew that Michael had always had the tendency to doze off easily, but not during her prominent practice. 

While considering what mischievous act she should do to wake him out of surprise, Grace noticed how steady his breathing he was. He was just lying there on the wooden floor, relying his back on the school walls, temporarily hidden from the outside world. Michael was sleeping so soundly just like a baby when he, in fact, was eighteen by now. 

She never noticed that he had a faint tiny mole right beside his right eye, nor she ever noticed that his hair was really black, much darker than her own. It was as if staring at the jet black concrete cover of her piano at home. 

Glimmers of moonlight shone down on both of them. No wonder, the dark curtain of night had fallen in B after all. But that night was so bright. Was it full moon, Grace absolutely had no idea. She didn't care about the moon, why would she even care about the moon? 

Out of her conscience, Grace stretched her right hand forward, in leisure trying to graze his black, messy hair. Down to his forehead, then temple, came right after that his incredibly high nose, and... she stopped there. At the point of his nose. 

"You look like Rudolph, I hope you know that." 

Well, she clearly wasn't going to say that. That was not quite what she had in mind, but something was guarding her from being too downright honest that night. Was it the night zephyr? Probably not, because if it was the night zephyr, the next endeavour wouldn't happen. 

As she moved closer, she felt her heart beat a little too fast that she was afraid she might die of heart attack. She was frightened of what she was actually attempting to do and there was a sense of guilt welling up in her stomach when she was only inches away from him. 

Grace realised that she had been holding her breath all along. Right when she couldn't be any closer, she let her head fall lightly on his shoulder. Grace couldn't bring herself to do completely close the gap, a reality that was too obvious to guess. 

But there was an odd hunch that she might regret her decision to immediately back off to where she wasㅡ the chair placed just right beside the piano. 

The night was nothing but soft rays of light flooding the entire space of music room in their school, the night zephyr rustling so silently because Grace asked Michael to leave the windows ajar earlier, and the moon shone so bright that she started to wonder what on earth was actually going in that one night in July. 

Grace surely had seen Michael sleep a hundred times, but none of those times turned her so frantic like tonight. 

Frantic enough to utter that brief insanity into reverberating words. 

"Now that I'm really falling for you, please catch me unscathed."


End file.
